In Studio Ghibli’s My Neighbor Totoro, what is the profession of Satsuki and Mei’s father, Tatsuo Kusakabe?

In Studio Ghibli’s My Neighbor Totoro, Tatsuo Kusakabe is a university professor.

Tatsuo moves with his daughters, Satsuki and Mei, to an old house in the countryside while their mother recovers in hospital. His academic work helps explain why the family relocates near the hospital and why he spends much of the film reading and working at home.

The character is often described simply as a professor, but the more specific answer is university professor. Tatsuo teaches at a university in Tokyo, and the story presents him as a supportive, imaginative father rather than focusing on his academic specialty.

My Neighbor Totoro was written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki and released in Japan in 1988. Tatsuo’s warm relationship with his daughters is central to the film’s gentle family story, while the nearby forest introduces the supernatural world of Totoro.